Monthly Archives: Srpen 2018

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Ripple (XRP) will be worth just 1 US cent within five years and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) will fade, a damning new report from ICO advisory firm Satis Group predicts August 30.

Satis: Ripple ‘Misleadingly Marketed’

Forecasting the future trajectory for the cryptocurrency industry, Satis drew a sharp distinction between assets that “apply unique value propositions within deep and viral markets” and copycat tokens.

Bitcoin, Monero, and Decred, as examples of the former, are set for huge gains by 2023 – Bitcoin should costs $96,000, Monero $18,000 and Decred $535.

Bitcoin Cash, on the contrary, is an example of “cryptoassets which attempt to inherit brand recognition and provide minimal technological advantage to incumbents.”

Ripple, Satis continues, represents “cryptoassets which are misleadingly marketed, not needed within their own network, and have centralized ownership/validation.”

As such, Bitcoin Cash 00 will pale in comparison to Bitcoin at $268 in five years’ time, while Ripple will de facto become worthless. Satis adds:

Most ‘Other Utility’ application-specific networks hold very little value, in their current construct.

Cryptocurrency Market Value Will Hit $3.6T

The remarks constitute some of the most pessimistic to hit Ripple’s XRP token 00, which has battled a slew of negative publicity this month. As Bitcoinistreported, confusion of its token utility and conflicting statements by executives have earned the company scorn from various sources.

Similarly embattled, Bitcoin Cash has become a focus for criticism and even ridicule this month following the alleged liquidity issues suffered by mining giant Bitmain, a major bagholder of the altcoin.

Beyond those assets’ failings, Satis meanwhile predicts, cryptocurrency markets, in general, are set to boom throughout the coming decade.

“We estimate the amount of cryptoasset market value needed to support economic activities to expand from (~$500 billion) next year to ($3.6 trillion) in 2028,” the company states.

The findings are part of a five-installment series examining the cryptocurrency industry.

What do you think about Satis Group’s forecast? Let us know in the comments below!

Trading between Bitcoin and the Venezuelan Bolivar (VES) has beaten all records to pass 500 million for the first time last week.

7 Days, Half A Billion Bolivars

Data from Coin Dance, which tracks volumes on P2P platform Localbitcoins, confirms that the seven days ending August 25 saw BTC/VES achieve volumes never seen before.

The results come the same week Venezuela revalued the bolivar to create the new Sovereign Bolivar, lowering the currency’s value by 96 percent in the process.

For the week, Localbitcoins processed 506.3 million VES, a figure which dwarfs the previous all-time high of 175.8 million seen the week before.

In Bitcoin terms, the figure was also the highest ever, at 1143 BTC.

The Venezuelan government has come under extensive criticism for rolling out its Sovereign Bolivar project, which is tied to its national cryptocurrency Petro. As Bitcoinistreported, both Petro and the VES have received broad votes of no confidence, sources describing the latter as a “scam on top of another scam” last week.

Following conversion day August 20, the government in the meantime has even released a dedicated app to help citizens calculate how much money they actually own.

Rampant hyperinflation, which Caracas claims the new currency will help calm, is contributing to the confusion and ever-decreasing purchasing power of ordinary Venezuelans.

Government Clampdown ‘Will Affect’ Bitcoin Users

While Bitcoin has been gaining popularity in line with the deteriorating economic situation, the latest decisions by authorities appear to be fuelling interest and uptake.

As Purse.io head of support Eduardo Gomez, who is a Venezuelan national, noted on Twitter August 27, citizens traveling abroad will now have to notify banks of their intention to leave the country. This, according to documents, is a result of the government forcing them to reveal the IP addresses of those who access their banking setup from abroad.

“Many Venezuelans who live outside the country use their national bank accounts to send money to family members and to purchase local currency from traders by selling USD,” Gomez commented.

“Bitcoin users will be directly affected by this. Many (Localbitcoins) traders live outside the country.”

Many Venezuelans who live outside the country use their national bank accounts to send money to family members and to purchase local currency from traders by selling USD. Bitcoin users will be directly affected by this. Many Localbitcoin traders live outside the country…

Bitcoin price has been on a rather pleasant run as of late and a move above the ascending channel would make this unexpected treat a little bit sweeter as a path towards $7,500 and above could open up.

Bitcoin Price Market Overview

This current rally has everyone feeling all bullish lately and even a small group of select altcoins are feeling the love. Question is, did BTC actually reach a bottom and reverse or is this just another one of those $1,000 green candle teases that eventually leads to a sharp reversal and revisit to prices below $6,000?

Let’s have a quick look at the charts to see where BTC 00 might go.

1-Hour Chart

Bitcoin price is confidently bullish for the short-term, though a move above the ascending trendline grows more urgent in order for BTC to maintain its current pace. BTC has pulled back from its daily high at $7,127 and appears to be consolidating from $7,000 to $7,100 which was to be expected as the RSI and Stoch spent most of the day bouncing around in overbought territory.

The 5-hour exponential moving average (EMA) has crossed below the 10-EMA and a drop below $7,000 would not be surprising as a mild pullback after rapid gains is typical.

In the event of a pullback, BTC is likely to rebound back to today’s range as the cryptocurrency remains in the ascending channel with the longer term moving average below as support. Furthermore, the RSI and Stoch have room to fall and accommodate a pullback to $6,875 before reversing course.

4-Hour Chart

The recent upside move brought BTC 00 above the 200-day MA and the 20-MA is on the verge of crossing above the 200 MA while the 50 and 100-day MA have already crossed. Despite a slight pullback from today’s high ($7,127) BTC continues to consolidate within the ascending channel and while volume has tapered off BTC is well situated.

While the pattern of higher lows has fragmented, it is preserved on the daily chart and will remain so as long as the BTC stays above 6,568.

Looking Ahead

Barring a drop below the ascending trendline at $6,864, BTC could extend to the top of ascending trendline at $7,350 over the short-term.

A sharper pullback to $6,875 would not be surprising and bulls are likely to buy the dip in anticipation of a quick bounce back above $7,000.

BTC will encounter resistance at $7,128, $7,165 and $7,490. In the event of a reversal, BTC will find support at $6,877, $6,711 and $6,566. BTC has spent the day bouncing off softer supports at $7,000, $7,030 and $7,050.

[Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are not intended as investment advice. Market data is provided by BITFINEX. The charts for analysis are provided by TradingView.]

Where do you think Bitcoin price will go? Let us know in the comments below!

Hyperinflation in Venezuela is so bad, the nation’s Central Bank has released an Android app to help citizens calculate how many new sovereign bolivar units they possess. The release arrives after the national government re-denominated the old currency last week.

As hyperinflation mounts in Venezuela, the national government seems to be staking nearly all it has on the ‘Petro’ virtual currency.

Earlier in August, President Nicholas Maduro announced a new exchange rate for the country’s bolivar, which was pegged to the Petro. Maduro said one Petro would be worth $60 U.S. Dollars, and equate to 360 million bolivars — essentially devaluing the national currency by 96%.

This new pegged currency was dubbed the ‘sovereign bolivar.’ In a recent speech, Maduro said the new currency, along with a variety of other economic incentives, consisted of his “formula” to help “the country to recover.”

However, many figures in the international community remain convinced that the Petro and the new sovereign bolivar are just smoke and mirrors. Wiredcalled the new currency “a scam on top of another scam.”

Still, the Venezuelan government appears to be pushing forward despite the backlash. The country’s Central Bank recently announced that they’ve released an Android application geared towards helping citizens “understand and assimilate the monetary re-denomination process.”

Yes… There’s An App For That

Known as the Sovereign Calculator, the new application was touted by Venezuela’s Central Bank as a “tool for everyone.”

Since the re-denomination of the bolivar essentially just cut off five zeros from the old value, calculations on the application are pretty simple. Still, the app has been downloaded thousands of times as of press time while gaining a rating of 4.5 stars across 241 reviews.

Some reviewers praised the app’s design and functionality, while others have made more pointed critiques.

One reviewer said they knew the bolivar has failed when the government builds a “calculator app that artificially deflates the true value.”

Another said the application was totally useless and predicted “they will remove zero’s…very soon again.”

Even armed with the app, Venezuelan shoppers also have to keep the black-market exchange rate in mind. Right now, this underground rate is about 40% weaker than the official exchange rate.

The application’s creator, Comunicacion Digital VE, has a history of creating other programs that support the ruling government. Other applications include “Todo Chavez,” in honor of past President Hugo Chavez, and “Vamos Nico,” one designed to build support for President Maduro.

Currency Chaos

Despite the new currency, many Venezuelan citizens continue to suffer under a failed economic model with no end in sight.

Many experts believe Maduro’s new economic initiatives are just going to cause more chaos. They point out how planned minimum wage increases will cause more suffering for businesses and companies.

Additionally, skewed prices within the framework of the new currency are looking to portend bad news for some citizens.

Authorities arrested and accused a group of merchants for jacking up prices after the currency change. The authorities reportedly booked others for cutting off a smaller amount of zeroes than the required five.

What do you think about Venezuela’s new sovereign bolivar? Is it a scam, or could cryptocurrency be a way to help citizens escape economic malaise,? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Iran will likely reverse its cryptocurrency ban in September, a central bank official told a conference August 26, paving the way for official regulation in the country.

Regulators Revisit April Exchange Block

The country, which introduced a blanket ban on trading in April this year, has since seen economic turmoil return to its economy in light of fresh US sanctions, its national currency losing a significant chunk of its value since.

Having previously signaled plans to create a national cryptocurrency, the Central Bank of Iran’s chief of innovative technologies Nasser Hakimi said regulatory attention would now shift to public crypto assets.

“The High Council of Anti-Money Laundering has imposed a ban in light of concerns over global allegations of money laundering and financing of terrorism. But it seems that after the government’s consideration, this blanket ban will be reviewed,” he told conference members quoted by local news outlet Financial Tribune and Eghtesad.

Concerning the national crypto plans, Hakimi hinted these should also come to fruition, saying the project required “suitable and prevalent” support from authorities.

“National virtual currencies haven’t proved successful experiences in the world, but some economic officials have emphasized on this, so the Informatics Services Corporation has readied a test edition and some other entities are also cooperating in this,” he commented.

Crypto ‘Beyond The Financial Sector’

The government will meanwhile review the trade block in September, with the outcome reportedly set to acknowledge cryptocurrency’s increasing popularity and the ineffectiveness of trying to stifle its use.

As Eghtesad notes, Iran’s domestic exchanges shut down for less than a fortnight after the April announcement and have continued operating since.

“This is beyond the boundaries of the financial sector and is considered an industrial issue, so we can look at it as the crypto mining industry,” Hakimi added about the type of direct the discussions the September review would take.

In July, Bitcoinistreported that despite the ban, Iran could soon become forced to resort to Bitcoin due to its economic woes.

What do you think about Iran’s potential lifting of its cryptocurrency ban? Let us know in the comments below!

Popular silverbug and Golden State Mint head TruthNeverTold recently took to his YouTube channel to once again call out the cryptocurrency market as little more than a Ponzi scheme. Specifically, he claims that Litecoin and its founder, Charlie Lee, are prime examples of duping unsuspecting investors.

As Bitcoinistreported on December 20, 2017, Litecoin founder Charlie Lee “sold or donated” his entire Litecoin wealth to avoid “conflicts of interest” arising from its growth. Interestingly, Lee sold the very top of Litecoin’s unprecedented pump — something which TruthNeverTold views as an obvious profit-taking exit from a nothing-for-something Ponzi scheme.

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States TruthNeverTold:

He sold out everything at the top. Good on Charlie Lee! Great job! But you just proved the fact that, as I’ve been saying since 2011, early adopters take something that has no intrinsic value, they set about building the perceived value to an unsuspecting public, only to sell that illusion for something that has real value.

The YouTuber also takes issue with Lee’s reasoning. The Litecoin founder explained, at the time:

Litecoin has been very good for me financially, so I am well off enough that I no longer need to tie my financial success to Litecoin’s success. […] For the first time in 6+ years, I no longer own a single LTC that’s not stored in a physical Litecoin.

For TruthNeverTold, Lee all but admitted that he cashed out at the top of the bubble, selling cryptocurrency for fiat and ensuring his long-term financial success.

Charlie Lee has since defended his actions as benign and well-intentioned. Despite the fact that the Litecoin 00 market crashed substantially and never recovered since the point of Lee’s sale/donation, Lee claims his actions has no effect on the market, stating:

I didn’t actually have that many litecoins. My selling litecoins didn’t actually affect the market itself but the fact that I had litecoins and people were thinking that I might dump it on the market actually was an issue.

Lee also believes Litecoin will eventually bounce back, explaining:

I still think it was the right move but I question whether — I think in the long run it was the right move but in the short term while the price is down, below the all-time high, it just feels like it’s not the right decision. But I think like, moving forward, five years down the road, when the price is back to the all-time high, I feel like it will be the right move.

What do you think about Charlie Lee selling his entire stake in Litecoin at the top? Do you think Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies are Ponzi schemes, or is TruthNeverTold simply overreacting to a market bubble? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

A new report found that over 70% of the top 100 exchanges on CoinMarketCap are engaging in excessive wash trading from three to thousands of times their stated volume.

[Note: This is a guest article submitted by researcher Marco Paez]

Two-Thirds of 24 Hour Trade Volume May Be Fake

It’s been a month since CoinMarketCap (CMC) made changes to the way they post exchange volume stats after being called out by multiple sources for supporting bloated volume numbers. An adjusted volume metric was added to the site which changed up the rankings substantially, however, the new adjusted rankings still seemed to be suspect by many in the industry.

Released this week, research compiled by the Blockchain Transparency Institute (BTI) gives clearer insight into how massively overstated the daily volume numbers actually are. Tallying up the volume numbers of the top 130 exchanges, the report found that over $6 billion in daily trade volume is being faked, comprising over two-thirds of the total 24-hour trade volume.

The largest offenders in the top 10 include Bibox, which appears to be wash trading their volume over 85x, Bit-Z to over 469x, ZB over 391x, LBank 4400x. The worst of the bunch is BCEX at over 22,000x. All of these exchanges trail Binance in the daily unique visitor’s statistic between 50 and 600x.

The top exchange in the USA is Coinbase, which climbs the ranks up to #3. Another big mover into the top 10 is Bithumb at #4 which overtakes Upbit as the largest exchange in South Korea. Upbit is currently under investigation for fraud, money laundering, and wash trading which correlates with data showing an over-reporting of their volume by 11x.

Binance sits at the top of the chart at #1 with a massive amount of unique daily visitors to back them up. Bitfinex slides into the number 2 spot behind their high dollar clientele and $10,000 minimum deposit for entry.

KuCoin, Cryptopia See Big Gains

A large chunk of the top 25 exchanges have dropped all the way out of the top 100. According to the data, these exchanges typically have less than 1,000 site visitors per day. The majority of these exchanges also seem to be mass produced, as they all appear to be using the same UI and trading engine.

Coinex, which was left out of CMC’s adjusted volume rankings due to transaction mining, finds itself inside the top 25 using this data. Other transaction mining exchanges such as Coinbene and Bit-Z dropped well outside of the top 25 exchanges from their previous rankings.

Kucoin and Cryptopia are the biggest movers-up the charts landing in at #19 and #24, and moving up from #58 and #90 respectively, after watching all the fake volume ahead of them disappear. Both of these sites have unique daily visitor counts in the top 10 of all exchanges. The BTI report notes that many of their customers are trading on low volume and low market cap coins, which keep them outside of the top 10.

The research team states they used data obtained from SimilarWeb on website traffic coupled with order book research conducted by Sylvain Ribes. His report detailed excessive slippage rates of top 15 exchanges including Okex, Huobi, Lbank, and Bit-Z. The combination of these data sets was plugged into a new formula which produced a vastly different top 25 than what is being reported. A rundown of their methodology for the rankings can be found here.

Data collected from SimilarWeb also reports many of these offender exchanges getting up to 90% of their referral volume from rankings pages, overwhelmingly from CMC. This naturally incentivizes wash trading by any exchange looking to move up the ranks.

When compared, the slippage data of the known respected exchanges and monthly traffic data appears to be in correlation. Binance, Coinbase, Bittrex, Bitfinex, Kraken, Poloniex, and Kucoin all have monthly visitor counts well above the rest of the top 100 exchanges as well as very low slippage when their order books were checked.

The report notes that although their data is reported with an accuracy of 1:1 this does not mean there is no wash trading going on, just that none could be proven using their current model.

Lending credibility to these top exchanges, it was recently reported that Coinbase is building a new system to monitor suspicious trading activity known as the Coinbase Trade Surveillance Program. The system in place is one of the ways Coinbase says it is using to prepare for the $10 billion of institutional money waiting to move into the space.

Gemini also started a similar program in April when it partnered with Nasdaq to monitor its marketplace. Nasdaq’s SMARTS Market Surveillance technology is currently monitoring activity across all of Gemini’s trading pairs. Gemini moved up from #26 to #14 in the BTI rankings.

These types of initiatives continue to be implemented as the space matures in preparing the market for institutional investors. With more important ETF decisions looming this year, these exchanges seek to prove to the SEC that they’re doing due diligence in securing their platforms from manipulation.

Cryptocurrencies are continuing to break new grounds within traditional finances. An increasing number of major firms continue to explore digital currency investment software.

E&Y’s Foray Into Cryptocurrencies

Ernst & Young has acquired a software developed by a Silicon Valley-based startup called Elevated Consciousness in order to manage investments executed in cryptocurrencies.

The software in question is called Crypto-Asset Accounting and Tax (CAAT). It was bought by Ernst & Young’s Americas Tax Innovation Foundry with the intention to facilitate their clients in investing in crypto assets. Speaking on the matter, Michael Meisler, a partner at the company said:

CAAT will allow us to help clients investing in crypto-assets, both in the fund space and beyond.

It’s also noteworthy that the leader of the Foundry also hinted for an increased interest in cryptocurrencies on behalf of the company’s clients:

I look forward to all the opportunities in tax and accounting that this technology will afford our clients and professionals in such a dynamic and exciting market.

Cryptocurrency March In Traditional Financial Institutions

Ernst & Young is not the first major company to express interest in digital currencies. In 2017, one of the Big Four accounting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), announced that it would accept Bitcoin 00 payments from its clients.

Goldman Sachs – one of the world’s largest investment banks, recently reiterated its plans to roll out a cryptocurrency custody solution so that it could manage Bitcoin for its clients. A custody solution coming from a recognized name is something that would potentially attract more institutional money into the market, according to prominent investor Mike Novogratz.

Earlier this month Bitcoinistreported that nine banking giants, including Citigroup and Barclays, are taking part in an app store trial for programs which are based on blockchain technology.

What do you think of EY’s acquistion? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!

The SEC has said no to applications for nine different Bitcoin ETFs. Applications came from ProShares, Direxion, and GraniteShares.

Nine applications to list and trade different Bitcoin ETFs were rejected by the SEC, according to threedifferentreleases dated August 22nd.

The regulatory agency (predictably) rejected five proposed ETFs from Direxion, two from Proshares, and two from GraniteShares. The SEC cited concerns over fraud and manipulation as the main reasons for the rejection.

The official deadline for the ProShares decision was August 23, while GraniteShare’s offering was slated for September 15. Many were curious to see how the SEC’s decision would play out, as any sort of positive news would certainly send Bitcoin price 00 upwards.

A Flurry Of Rejections

In each report, the SEC listed specific reasons that led them to reject each application. But in all three releases, the agency wrote:

[T]he Commission is disapproving this proposed rule change because, as discussed below, the Exchange has not met its burden under the Exchange Act and the Commission’s Rules of Practice to demonstrate that its proposal is consistent with the requirements of the Exchange Act Section 6(b)(5), in particular the requirement that a national securities exchange’s rules be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.

The SEC also noted how none of the applications convinced them that the Bitcoin futures market was of “significant size.” According to the SEC, this failure is important because the applications have “failed to establish that other means to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices will be sufficient, and therefore surveillance-sharing with a regulated market of significant size related to bitcoin is necessary.”

However, the SEC did note:

Its disapproval does not rest on an evaluation of whether bitcoin, or blockchain technology more generally, has utility or value as an innovation or an investment.

Echoes of Previous Rejections

The latest round of rejections by the SEC is nothing new to cryptocurrency enthusiasts who are excited about the idea of a Bitcoin ETF.

Last year, the agency rejected an ETF proposal from Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, known as the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust. In July, the SEC rejected a rule change proposal the two brothers submitted after the initial rejection.

The agency said they denied the proposal due to concerns about investor protection. At the time, the regulatory body pointed out how Bitcoin was subject to fraud and manipulation carried out from offshore markets that were unregulated.

Now, all eyes are set to wait for the SEC’s decision about the CBOE Bitcoin ETF proposal. Some legal experts think the SEC will probably hold off until 2019 on making a decision about their proposal. In the meantime, CBOE has been fairly active in working with the SEC to mitigate concerns.

What do you think about the SEC’s latest rejections? Will the commission eventually approve a crypto ETF? Let us know in the comments!

The UAE continues its involvement in the field of digital currencies as a local company is set to launch the very first cryptocurrency exchange compliant with Shariah legislation.

Moving Forward

ADAB Solutions, a UAE-based company, is reportedly going to launch the very first cryptocurrency exchange compliant with Shariah law. The project is conveniently called the First Islamic Crypto Exchange (FICE).

The cryptocurrency exchange will operate globally, and it intends to further the involvement of Muslims and users of Islamic finance in the cryptocurrency market. Supposedly, this will become the first digital asset exchange which will be carrying out the transactions in accordance with the regulations of Islamic finance.

Timur Turzhan, founder and CEO at ADAB solutions, said:

Ideas that correspond to the norms of the Shariah are based on the understandable material value, have a clear business strategy, and this allows us to confidently assert that halal projects are incomparably safer successful than the many cryptocurrency initiatives.

The cryptocurrency exchange will employ an in-house Shariah Advisory Board which is comprised of international Shariah experts. They will be tasked with complying with the principles of the Islamic legislation.

Serious Progress

The United Arab Emirates is making serious progress when it comes to blockchain technologies.

Earlier in January Dubai announced that it intends to roll out at least 20 blockchain-based services in 2018 alone. The emirate’s biggest bank has embraced the innovative technology to reduce fraud related to checks. Going further, the transportation authority of Dubai has also unveiled plans to create a vehicle management system based on blockchain technology. It would allow owners to keep track of their vehicle throughout the entire time of its existence.

Abu Dhabi, the acting capital of the UAE, has also revealed a partnership with Ripple to begin cross-border remittances using distributed-ledger technology.

What do you think of ADAB Solutions’ Shariah-compliant cryptocurrency exchange? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!

Upcoming Events

From November 19 to 21, 2018, the key event of the year in the Ukrainian energy sector, the Ukrainian Energy Week ’18, will take place in the NSC “Olimpiyskiy”. Here will meet the most influential representatives of national and foreign … Continue reading →

It is our pleasure to invite you to the speech 100 Years of U.S.-Czech Economic Relations: Towards the Next 100 by the US Ambassador to the Czech Republic, H.E. Stephen King. If you wish to attend the event, please register … Continue reading →

From November 19 to 21, 2018, the key event of the year in the Ukrainian energy sector, the Ukrainian Energy Week ’18, will take place in the NSC “Olimpiyskiy”. Here will meet the most influential representatives of national and foreign … Continue reading →

👉 Welcome to the first SOCIAL INNOVATION WEEKEND in Central Europe organized in cooperation with all Visegrad countries. Our goal is to change the future of key social topics. The challenges of the first ever innovative weekend are going to … Continue reading →